Funding OK’d for septic systems

Property owners would repay the loan as a payment on their property taxes.

STAFF REPORT

WARREN — In about a year, as many as 37 Trumbull County property owners with failed septic systems may be eligible to secure a low-interest loan to pay for a septic-system replacement or upgrade.

Part of the money to create the Nuisance Abatement Fund was approved by the U.S. House Appropriations Committee, said U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Niles, D-17th, a member of the committee.

The $300,000 appropriation will be matched with $247,000 that Trumbull County officials expect to secure from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, said Julie Green, grants coordinator for the Trumbull County Planning Commission.

For the appropriation to become final, it first will have to be approved by the U.S. Senate and be signed by the president.

It will likely take about a year for the fund to be ready for use, Green said. The interest rate on the money would be about 2 percent.

The planning commission and the county health department applied for the $300,000 together in March, Green said.

In 2008, the health department conducted more than 5,000 residential sewage inspections and found that 85 percent were failing, Ryan said in a press release. New septic systems cost $15,000 and up.

“During an economy where finding cost-saving solutions are imperative, I am proud to have secured the funding for this important project,” Ryan said.

“The financial burden caused by replacing these systems is unavoidable, but this program will provide the assistance to those who need it.”

The $300,000 is part of the Interior-Environment Appropriations bill that funds the Department of Interior and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Trumbull County will administer the money in a revolving fund, meaning that the money will return to the fund as it is paid back by users so that it will be available to other users.

Property owners will repay the borrowed money through their property-tax bill.